E3 2009: Avatar Teased

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James Cameron reveals details, but doesn't show 3D game.

By Hilary Goldstein

At Ubisoft's E3 press conference, James Cameron spoke at length about the collaborative effort to create both the Avatar game and movie. Taking place in the 22nd century on Pandora, an Earthlike moon, Avatar tells of a war between humans and the Navi. Humans can't breathe the air on Pandora, but there's a hope that creating a human/Navi hybrid could solve this problem.

Avatar is a 3D game...in 3D, just like the feature film. The main character in the film is Jake Sully, a wounded marine who's come to Pandora for a second chance at valor. Paralyzed in combat, Jake inhabits an Avatar, which is basically a surrogate for him to explore the moon's surface.

The game may not use the same character, as its storyline does not follow the film. With the game shipping before the movie, it's likely that Avatar the videogame, will be a prequel.

Most videogames based of films are, to put it kindly, not exceptional. Cameron doesn't want that to happen with Avatar. And so development began 2 ½ years ago and has moved along in parallel with the film. Cameron gave Ubisoft the authority to create a new story, to explore new areas of Pandora, and add new weapons and vehicles. The game and movie shared a number of assets, which should create two very similar-looking worlds.

In the game, players can choose whether to play as a human or a Navi. You won't be locked into this choice though, with the ability to switch between sides at the start of each level.

The game and movie are said to reveal a fantasy world unlike anything we've seen before. Unfortunately, we'll have to take Cameron's word for it, because the game wasn't shown during the press conference. According to Cameron, Avatar is on display behind closed doors at Ubisoft's booth. Expect a full report on the first major stereoscopic videogame later this week.